1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional imaging device which optically transmits a three-dimensional image, and more particularly to an optical three-dimensional imaging device which uses the so-called integral photography (IP) technique.
The integral photography is one of three-dimensional image systems, and uses a microlens similar to a compound eye of an insect.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical three-dimensional imaging device which uses the integral photography technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. HEI10-117355. In the disclosed apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1, plural optical fibers (grated index optical fibers) 10 acting as a lens and having the same length are configured so that the optical fibers have a length which is an integer multiple of one period of the optical path and both the ends are placed in the same two-dimensional arrangement (hereinafter, referred to as "optical fiber group"), whereby a three-dimensional model (object) 11 is three-dimensionally imaged, transmitted, and displayed.
According to the invention of the previous application, a three-dimensional image can be transmitted for a long distance without increasing the scale of an optical transmission path, and changing light into an electric signal. When the optical fibers are produced so as to be bendable, the transmission path can be bent. An expansion device, a reduction device, or a light intensifying device may be inserted into a specific place in a middle of the optical fibers, so that the three-dimensional image can be expanded, reduced, or optically intensified. Therefore, the apparatus of the previous application can be used in, for example, an endoscope or a borescope which provides a three-dimensional image.
However, the invention of Japanese Patent Application No. HEI10-117355 which is previously filed has a problem to be solved in that, as shown in FIG. 1, a reproduced three-dimensional image 12 is produced only behind end faces of the optical fibers 10 (i.e., in the optical fiber group) and cannot be displayed as an aerial image on the front faces of the optical fibers.